The present application relates to a cementitious composite for in-situ hydration (i.e., hydration in place, on location, on a construction site). In-situ hydration occurs as a liquid is topically applied and reacts with a volume of cementitious material within the cementitious composite. This reaction occurs while the cementitious composite is in a position and does not change the directional orientation of the pre-fabricated nature of the cementitious composite. Such a cementitious composite allows cementitious material to set and harden within the cementitious composite without requiring traditional mixing and pour procedures.
Textile-reinforced composites may include at least one layer of a two or three-dimensional textile and a layer of cementitious material to form a laminated composite, where traditionally the textiles are layered in a planer form. Such laminated composites may exhibit excellent in-plane properties but typically lack reinforcement in the thickness direction (i.e., a direction orthogonal to a surface of the composite) or have reduced bonding of the layers. While traditional cement composites may include plain weave fabrics or multiple layers of fabric to improve performance, these systems may fail (e.g., delaminate, etc.) under loading.
Other cementitious composites include “spacer fabric” composites having monofilament threads or yarns which are ideally elastomeric, woven between two layers to create a fabric with a spaced apart arrangement configured to entrap cementitious material between the two layers. The outer layers are each porous to allow the yarns, threads, etc. to be threaded through the outer layers, where the yarns, threads, etc. are fed through the pores of the layers. Additional, less porous fabrics or membranes may be attached to the outer layers of the spacer fabric to reduce the size of openings on each layer and prevent the cementitious material from escaping the composite. Adhesive may be required to attach the additional, less porous fabric layers. The yarns of the spacer fabric do not provide a structure to which other layers may be attached. The yarns must be woven between porous outer layers having apertures arranged in a set configuration designed for the yarn to thread though. Such spacer fabric cementitious composites are labor intensive to manufacture.